Kitty's Demon
by Knightcrawler
Summary: Kitty the demon-slayer has a lot to do right now; she has to patrol every night, keeping the world safe from demons and the forces of darkness, she has been asked to help to train up a newly chosen demon-slayer, and she has to stop the apocalypse from happening; and then there is the mystery of the small blue demon that has somehow managed to become her sort of pet...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note – Time for another AU story, this time with Kitty as a demon-slayer. Note that this is a different universe to the 917 universe of **_**The Demon of Bayville**_**, **_**The Foundling, **_**and **_**The Island of Legend**_**. Enjoy!**

Kitty's Demon

_Prologue - Against the Rules_

There was a long list of things that Kitty had never wanted to be. These included being chosen as a demon-slayer, finding out that she was a mutant, and having her best friend cheat on her with her boyfriend. However, currently, being attacked by six rather large demons, all at the same time, came top of her list. There had to be some sort of law against that, surely, after all, in all the old films, all of the enemy soldiers always attacked one by one, single file, waiting patiently for their fellows to be bested before taking their turn to attack the hero. It was an unwritten code, she was certain of it, as she spun around, hacking off two of the demon's heads with her rather large axe. They were never supposed to attack all at the same time; it just was not the done thing. Apart from anything else, it just was not polite. A dagger lodged itself in a third demon's chest, and the creature fell to the ground. Kitty grinned as the fourth demon fell down, a bolt from a crossbow, expertly shot by her Watcher, Austin, protruding out of the demon's back. This was more like it; two demons, two heroes. It was just a shame that Austin could not have arrived earlier, but Watchers had to spend as much time wading through books as they did wading through demon goo. The fifth demon was decapitated by Austin hacking it to pieces, and Kitty threw another dagger at the final demon, killing it instantly.

Austin removed his glasses, and began cleaning them, "Quite a busy night," he said, in what Kitty had come to regard as Watcher English, "I am sorry that I could not have arrived sooner."

Kitty merely sighed, "They're not supposed to attack all at once," she said, "in all the old films, they always attack one at a time, always. It's got to be a law or something."

"Quite," Austin replied, in the same Watcher English, this time laced with an undertone of sarcasm, "but I believe that it is a fact that, demons, being soulless monsters, are unconcerned with obeying the law."

Kitty sat down on the wet grass. Now that the rush of adrenaline from all of the fighting was beginning to subside, she was starting to feel tired and worn out, "Why do Watchers always have to be such smart know-it-all's about everything?" she mumbled.

Austin gave her a wry smile, "I believe that is a prerequisite to being in the position of Watcher," he said, "I think that Watchers are required to possess at least a small amount of intellectual capacity in order to avoid becoming demon food within the first week of taking up the position."

Kitty got to her feet suddenly, "Talking about demon food, how did we manage to miss big bad Blue over there?" she pointed to an eight foot high blue Cyclopes with bulging muscles and a furious expression, who was wielding a rather large axe in a decidedly menacing manner. Kitty did not know where the creature had come from; it seemed that it had just materialised out of nowhere, but that was hardly unusual for certain kinds of demons. Kitty tightened her grip on her own axe, and glared at the creature, a determined expression on her own face. Well, at least this one had had the courtesy to wait his turn, unlike those six other demons, but this one was certainly larger than the others, and seemed to be stronger and more powerful than all of the others put together.

She lunged at the Cyclops, wielding her axe, landing a direct hit on the torso. The creature merely looked down at where the axe had failed to even produce a slight dent in its blue skin. Then the creature reached down, grabbed her by the throat, and threw her, none too gently, against a tree. Kitty shook herself, feeling more annoyed than hurt; demon-slayers were tough, they had to be, or they did not last very long at all. But that did not mean that this creature would fail to present a challenge to even her abilities. She glared at the creature. Now she was not only tired, but angry, not to mention dirty. She looked around quickly, and glared at where Austin was examining the creature with what she had come to think of as Watcher Knowledge.

"I believe that our most recent companions is a Karikhian demon," he said, as the Cyclops turned towards him suddenly, and knocked him to the ground. Austin reached around himself for his glasses, which had fallen on the ground besides him.

"That's just great," Kitty growled sarcastically, "if ever I want to invite him to a party, I now know what to write on the invitation," she threw one of her daggers at the creature. It merely bounced off of his chest. The creature looked down, momentarily distracted by the dagger, but nevertheless unharmed by it. Kitty sighed in exasperation, "What I'd really like to know, though," she said, keeping her temper with more than a little difficulty, "is how exactly I am supposed to stop this thing."

"Ah yes, of course," said Austin, as he turned around and noticed that a much smaller blue demon had just emerged from the nearby bushes, "the only way to stop a Karikhian demon is by beheading."

"That's all I needed to know," Kitty took one huge swing of her axe, and moments later the creature's head was severed at the neck. Panting slightly due to the effort, she suddenly noticed the smaller blue demon, noticed that the creature seemed to have been preparing to attack Austin. However, the creature had apparently noticed how effectively she had managed to kill the larger demon, and so the smaller creature suddenly, to her astonishment, fell on its knees, staring at the severed head of the Karikhian demon in horror.

"Please don't kill me!" it begged, pulling at the bottom of Kitty's jeans, and looking up at her with pleading yellow eyes.

The creature was truly pathetic in comparison to the Karikhian demon, small and thin, covered in dirty and untidy matted blue fur, its hair covered in mud, and its spaded tail hanging limply behind it. Despite the fact that it had apparently just been preparing to harm her Watcher, Kitty could not help feeling rather sorry for the creature. Still, she reminded herself suddenly, it was nothing but a soulless demon, and so pulled away from it hurriedly, and then turned towards Austin.

"It's begging me to spare its life," she said, "that's got to be against the rules or something, hasn't it? They're not supposed to do that, are they?"

Austin adjusted his glasses, and stared down at the pathetic creature, a sceptical look in his grey eyes, "Indeed," he said, "however, as we discussed just moments before, demons do have a nasty tendency to ignore the rules."


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 1 – New Slayer, New Watcher_

"I shouldn't have to tell you this," began a rather pompous, essentially older version of Austin, "but demons do not make suitable pets. Especially not for demon-slayers," he added.

Austin wiped his glasses. Kitty watched him closely from across the table, and idly wondered if there had ever been a Watcher who did not wear glasses, and what he would do instead of touching them, when in a moment of deep thought and contemplation. She was interrupted from her vague musings by Austin's reply, "It begged for its life, two months ago when we caught it," Austin explained, pointing at the blue creature in the basket in the corner of the room. The creature was watching them all warily, its glowing yellow eyes uncertain. Austin gave the creature a very small, reassuring smile, before turning his attention back towards his companion, "Well, it seemed rather cruel to slaughter it given the circumstances, and we couldn't exactly let it go free to attack anyone else." Austin replaced his glasses, and sighed quietly, "So it seemed like the only option available to us, seemed that we would have to keep it where we could keep an eye on it. The collar around its neck will keep it from harming any living thing," he said.

The older version of Austin coughed meaningfully, "All that as may be correct, do remember that it still remains a soulless demon," he said, and took a sip of his Earl Grey tea, "and, I should not need to remind you, that means that the creature does still remain dangerous. That means, in plain English, that it cannot be trusted."

"Quite," said Austin, "hence the collar, hence why he is kept here, where we are able to keep an eye on him. Besides, as demons go, he's pretty harmless." He turned to the blue creature, and beckoned him to come closer, "Nightcrawler," he said, "come here and pour Mister Windsor-Smyth a glass of wine, please."

The creature nodded once, "Yes sir," he said. He kept his yellow eyes lowered as he walked over to the table. His entire manner was completely submissive, as he poured some wine from a glass decanter into a cut crystal wine glass. Kitty watched him carefully as he finished his task, and then as he bowed slightly to the older version of Austin – Mister Windsor-Smyth – so that was his name; she had been trying to remember it all evening. She smiled to herself. Mister Windsor-Smyth; it suited him, she decided, as he seemed to be the very essence of pompous arrogance. Compared to him, Austin suddenly did not seem too bad.

"Will that be all, Sir?" the blue creature asked, setting the decanter down upon a silver tray.

Mister Windsor-Smyth examined him for a long moment, looking him up and down; it was obvious that he did not like what he saw. "Yes, demon," he said after a long pause, "for now. Go back to your basket."

The creature bowed slightly, and returned to the indicated basket. He watched the others cautiously, as Mister Windsor-Smyth pointed towards him, "You call that think Nightcrawler?" he asked.

"Yes," said Kitty, just a little bit defiantly. Austin had earlier advised her to keep quiet during this meeting, to only speak when spoken to, and to avoid confrontation if at all possible. She had initially felt more than a little irritated at these instructions, but had reluctantly agreed that Austin had more experience and expertise in this area, and so it was acceptable for him to do most of the talking. Now she realised that Austin had actually been correct. Austin did not seem to like this pompous arrogant fool any more than she did, but Austin had the admirable ability to display his dislike in a subtle manner, rather than overtly. Kitty knew that she would not have been able to have been so tactful in his place. Still, she did not want to remain silent any longer, "he has a nasty habit of crawling all over my bedroom wall during the night. So I called him Nightcrawler. And it just seemed to stick."

"I like it," this came from a quiet voice at the other end of the table, "and I think he's rather cute," the girl who had spoken was called Amanda, and Kitty really wanted to hate her. She had long, perfect brown hair, while Kitty's own hair was rather limp and lifeless. She had a healthy, coffee-coloured skin, whereas Kitty was, in her own opinion, far too pale. Amanda had a full figure with ample breasts, whereas Kitty had a rather small, unimpressive figure. Amanda was Mister Windsor-Smyth's niece, and had recently been chosen as a demon-slayer. That was why she had been brought here, to train under the guidance of a more experienced demon-slayer, Kitty herself. Had Amanda been a book or television character, Kitty mused bitterly, she would have surely been a complete jerk, for she was popular and smart; yet she was, in actual fact, one of the sweetest, nicest people Kitty had ever met. It was not fair.

"You let that thing sleep in your bedroom?" Mister Windsor-Smyth asked in disgust, still staring at Nightcrawler.

"Yes," said Kitty again, and then added defiantly, "you said we should all keep an eye on him at all times, so we do. That means keeping him close even when we sleep."

"I like him," said Amanda, going over to stroke the Nightcrawler's blue fur. He flinched slightly as she came close to him, but started purring when she began to gently stroke him. Amanda laughed, "He's got really soft fur, it feels like velvet," she said, "I don't think that anything that looks and feels like this can be truly bad," she added.

"You should have seen him a couple of months ago," said Kitty, grinning as she watched Amanda giving Nightcrawler a tummy rub, while Mister Windsor-Smyth frowned at them both disapprovingly. Kitty pointed to Nightcrawler, and winked at Amanda, "That fur was as mangy and dirty as anything. He was a lot thinner then, and he wanted to attack Austin. Fortunately, he seems to have calmed down a lot."

Amanda examined Nightcrawler critically, "He doesn't seem dangerous to me," she said after a while, "Perhaps he was just scared, and so lashed out. I have a pet rat called Justin, and most of the time he's the friendliest creature you could imagine, but he might bite or scratch if I scare him, such as when I accidentally make a loud noise. Perhaps Nightcrawler is pretty much the same."

"Amanda," said Austin, predictably cleaning his glasses again, "though it is quite likely that he was scared, the fact still remains that he is potentially a danger. The only thing which is preventing him from attacking you right now is the collar around him neck. Believe me, I have been very nearly on the receiving end of one of his attacks, and I therefore know what I am talking about.

"This collar?" asked Amanda, examining the white and red plastic that covered the Nightcrawler's throat, "this is what prevents him from being able to harm anyone?"

Kitty walked over to her, "Yes," she said, "and he can't take it off," she pointed towards the collar, "there are groves along it, can you see them?" she pointed to the small grooves along the collar meaningfully, "you need to have normal hands, with ten digits, in order that they fit in these grooves, and so that you can undo the collar. The Nightcrawler has only two fingers on each hand, and one thumb, so he can't get it off without our help."

"What bothers me," said Mister Windsor-Smyth "is why you would want to remove the collar at all. Why not just leave it on him all the time, if you absolutely must keep the creature here, that is, if you are so convinced that this will ensure that the creature is harmless?"

Austin sighed, "It is intricate technology," he explained, "which essentially means that there is always a chance that something might go wrong. If it does, then we will need to correct it. That will almost certainly mean removing the collar in order to do this. Also, there are more practical considerations; he needs to clean his neck sometimes. Do not worry; Kitty is a demon-slayer, as is Amanda, now. Nightcrawler is not stupid; he knows that it would be very unwise to make an aggressive move right now, with two demon-slayers ready to defend themselves if necessary, regardless of his collar."

Mister Windsor-Smyth bristled, "Well, in my day we killed demons, we did not adopt them as our pets," he said, glaring over at where Amanda was still examining the collar, "but that is not the main reason why I am here now." He turned his attention back to Austin, "As you have probably guessed, there is a more serious reason for my current visit," he said.

"Let me guess," said Kitty, with a sigh, "we have to stop the Apocalypse again, lots of demons are going to be rising from some horrible dimension, and sending all of humanity to that dimension, unless we work to stop it in the next couple of weeks. Am I right?"

Amanda gave her an astonished look, "How did you know?" she asked.

Kitty gave her a wry smile, "Third time this year, Amanda," she said, "After you've been a demon-slayer as long as I have, you get to notice a pattern."


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 2 – Hidden Secrets_

Kitty sunk deeper into the pleasant warmth of her bathwater. It had been a stressful afternoon, she reflected absently, as she watched a soap bubble burst. Several hours earlier, demons had suddenly jumped out from the bushes, attacking her and Amanda. They had also tried to attack the Nightcrawler, except, and she grinned at the thought, he had been too quick for them. He had vanished up into the branches of the nearest tree, and had started throwing pine cones down on their attackers. But the Nightcrawler could not actually physically harm anyone, at least not while he was wearing that stupid collar of his, so that meant that Amanda and Kitty herself had to be the warriors, the defenders of humanity, and all those other impressive things that Austin never seemed to tire of reminding her about; duty and responsibility and the like.

The attacking demons had been tough, but, to her credit, Amanda had managed admirably for someone with limited experience and training, and, like Kitty herself, had only received minor cuts and bruises. Even the Nightcrawler had been able to help them fight; he had leapt down in front of the demons, appearing suddenly and startling them, providing the invaluable distraction that had enabled Amanda and Kitty to kill the demons. Unfortunately, these had not been the neat, clean sort of demons that vanished in a puff of smoke when killed. Of course not, these had to by the type that changed into slime and gunk, and had probably completely ruined Kitty's best jeans by exploding too close to her. Well, she had an apocalypse to worry about; there was little point in worrying about the passing away of blue denim. Besides, she might yet be able to persuade Austin to fund a shopping trip with Amanda, considering that the demons had probably also ruined Amanda's previously rather attractive red skirt. But that was for later. Right now, the comfort and warmth of the bath was easing the stress from Kitty's tired muscles.

After the attack, the three of them had gone to Amanda's house, simply because it was closer, and they really wanted to get the slime off of themselves. Kitty had patiently waited until Amanda and the Nightcrawler had finished bathing, before having her own bath, but it was not as if this was an entirely altruistic act. She wanted to stay in the warm water for as long as possible, and that was far easier to get away with if someone else was not waiting patiently for their turn. Still, it was not as if she could stay in there forever, however much she might wish to be able to do so right now; she had to prepare for their meeting with the Luthi later, especially as she was the only one of the three of them who had met with them before, and so both Amanda and the Nightcrawler would be looking to her for information and advice.

With a sigh, Kitty got out of the bath, dried herself absently, and put a very fluffy pink towel around her body. She then made her way across the hall, and knocked on the door to Amanda's bedroom. "Come in," came the slightly muffled voice from within. Kitty opened the door, and then grinned at what she saw.

Amanda was sitting at her computer, and seemed to be playing some kind of game. Kneeling by the side of her, looking almost feline, the Nightcrawler would occasionally look up at her, or stare at the computer screen in slight confusion. Amanda would occasionally reach down and pat his head, or stroke his fur; and the Nightcrawler would purr in response, making him seem even more cat-like. On Amanda's left shoulder, there was a small, white rat. Amanda would also pet the rat every once in a while, or feed it a piece of raw carrot or some pasta. In a really odd way, the scene seemed almost homely, and strangely comforting. Kitty could not imagine anyone else ever looking so comfortable in the company of a rat and a demon.

Amanda turned around to face her, "I've got some spare clothes that you can have, but I'm not sure if they will fit you or not," she said, and pointed towards a pair of black jeans and a blue top on her bed. Kitty went over and examined the clothes, smiling when it was clear that they were the right size.

"I'll give them back to you later," she said.

Amanda shook her head, "No need, I have plenty," she said, "anyway, Justin always likes to nibble at the collars," she pointed towards the rat on her shoulder. "This is Justin," she said.

"Don't you mind having a rat climb all over you?" Kitty asked, approaching warily.

Amanda shook her head again, "It's okay, he's tame, and very clean," she said, "in fact, rats are just about the perfect pet for anyone who can't have anything bigger like a dog or a cat. He's very smart," with that, she picked the creature up, and handed him towards Kitty, who took him nervously.

Kitty had never really minded most animals. She could cope with spiders quite easily, and was happy to watch frogs and grass snakes, as long as they did not touch her. She also quite liked mice, and most other mammals, but she had never really liked rats. Perhaps it was because she remembered reading a book, when she was very small, where the rat king had been the villain, and the nightmarish picture had in a sense stayed with her, even though she knew that it was only a story. So she did not feel entirely comfortable when handling Justine, even though he was surprisingly cute and cuddly, when she came to actually look at him closely. She was glad when Amanda took him back, and put him on the computer table in front of her. "He can do tricks," she said proudly, and picked up a pencil. Holding it horizontally, about six inches above the table, she addressed the rat, "Justin, backflip!" she said, a clear command that the rat only seemed too willing to obey. He did a backflip over the pencil, a miniature rodent gymnast performing for his beloved mistress. He was rewarded with another piece of raw carrot, which he nibbled enthusiastically.

"I can do that too. Can I have a piece of carrot as well?"

Surprised, both Amanda and Kitty turned to the Nightcrawler, who had suddenly started to perform backflips. He had the grace and agility of a trained acrobat, a fluidity of motion that seemed almost poetic. Only Justin the rat did not seem to be impressed that someone else had, for once, stolen his audience.

"That's amazing," said Amanda, "I didn't know that you could do that."

"Neither did I," said Kitty, surprised to find herself feeling oddly jealous that he had never performed for her like that, "where did you learn to do that?"

The Nightcrawler suddenly seemed very shy, met by two intense gazes (Justin was looking away in disgust that Amanda was so impressed with this silly blue newcomer).

The Nightcrawler swallowed, "A long time ago," he began, "in Bavaria, long before I came to America. There was a circus, and they taught me to do tricks. And I performed in the circus, did things like this. And I was happy, for a time."

Kitty and Amanda exchanged worried glances. Kitty suddenly felt slightly guilty that she had never asked the Nightcrawler about his past. Amanda gave a little laugh, lightening the mood somewhat, "Well, you've earned a carrot stick, that's for sure," she said, and then pointed to Justin, "but I think you have also earned an enemy, Justin is not used to anyone else stealing his thunder." She threw the Nightcrawler a couple of carrot sticks, which he caught with his tail. Justin gave him a quick, unimpressed look, and then looked away in disgust once more.

"What about the circus?" Kitty asked, "What happened there?"

The Nightcrawler sighed, "I was happy, for a time," he repeated, looking down. "Then something happened, but I was too young to understand what, exactly. The circus was brought by someone else, and then I was shipped to America, and kept in a cage all the time. I was there for a very long time. Then someone let me out, but I don't know why. That's when you found me."

"What exactly happened then?" Amanda asked, picking up Justin and feeding him an extra large piece of pasta, to make up for not giving him the desired amount of awe and attention for his talents.

The Nightcrawler looked down. "I wasn't sure," he admitted, "someone had let me out of the cage, and I was free, but I didn't know why, or what I was supposed to do now. Then I, I couldn't really control myself. It was as if I was a puppet, and someone else was pulling my strings, I was not in control of what I was doing, it was as if someone else was making me do things, but I was not making myself do them. I could only watch, as this something else seemed to want me to attack your Watcher," he nodded towards Kitty. "Then suddenly I was in control again, but terrified, I had seen what you had done to those creatures, and I thought that you would do the same to me, unless I begged for mercy. So I did," he finished.

Amanda went over and stroked his head, "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" she asked.

"You would have believed me?" he asked in reply.

Kitty felt guilty, but remembered what Austin had said, "Careful Amanda, don't forget that he is a demon," she said meaningfully.

Amanda looked at the Nightcrawler carefully, as if trying to decide, "I would not be surprised if he is part human," she said, "I'm sure that nothing like this can be truly bad."

Kitty shook her head, "It doesn't work like that," she said quietly, beginning to doubt her own words, "demons are demons, and that's just the way it is. Some do use human flesh to reanimate themselves, but it's like zombies or, or they're using a human corpse as a sort of meat puppet. The human that was once there, just isn't there anymore. I'm sorry."

"What about these Luthi you were telling me about earlier?" Amanda countered, "Aren't they technically part demon and part human?" she asked.

Once more, Kitty began to doubt everything she had been told about demons, "I think they're a special case," she said, sounding suddenly rather uncertain. "I'm not sure that they're really demons or human, but something else entirely. Anyway, they know stuff, and that's why we want to meet with them, to get information."

"What are the Luthi?" asked the Nightcrawler, as he approached Justin and tried to stroke him, only for the little rat to look away in disgust.

Kitty sighed, "No one seems to know for sure, and they're not exactly forthcoming with information about themselves," she remembered the last time that she was in their presence, the feelings of inferiority that came over her, that came over anyone when in one of the Luthi's presence. No one seemed to know if they did this on purpose, or if it was just a natural part of their glamour. They were very secretive about this themselves, and rarely gave a straight answer to any question. Still, they did technically owe Kitty a favour for the last time that she had stopped the apocalypse, so it was quite possible that they would provide her with useful information, even if she would have to entangle it from their enigmatic words.

"They are possible allies, although only a fool would trust them entirely," she said carefully, "we once thought that they were demons, but we have a sort of a truce or understanding now. They feed off of human blood," she explained quietly, "and there have been cases where people have been found drained, but not recently. It can be quite a euphoric feeling, having a Luthi feed upon you, or so I've heard, so people go willingly to them, and the danger is all part of the euphoria," she shrugged, "like getting on a rollercoaster, I guess. You know that there is a very small chance that something bad will happen, but that just adds to the excitement involved. Still, as long as they are only feeding on consenting adults, and only taking as much blood as these adults are willing to give, Austin has said that it's best if we more or less turn a blind eye to them, concentrate on more obvious evil, because, let's face it, there's enough of that about right now."

"What do they look like?" Amanda asked.

"Good question," Kitty replied, "no-one knows for sure, it's all part of the glamour. They always look beautiful, but it is filtered through their glamour, so you see them as idealised creatures. That's one of the reasons why people like to have them feed on them, I guess."

"I wonder what a rat would see, if he were to look at one of these Luthi?" said Amanda, picking up Justin and feeding him another piece of raw carrot, "Justin, what do you think about these Luthi?" she asked playfully.

Kitty laughed, "He might be very smart for a rat, but I don't think he's going to answer you," she said.

Amanda laughed nervously and ever so slightly awkwardly, then lowered her voice, as though divulging a deep secret, "That's not entirely true," she said.

Kitty gave her a sceptical look, "What do you mean?" she asked.

"If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone else?" Amanda asked.

Kitty gave her a small smile, and nodded her head, "I promise," she said, suddenly very curious.

Amanda swallowed, "Sometimes I can understand what animals say," she said.

Kitty looked at her for a moment longer, but it was clear that she was not joking, "Are you a mutant?" she asked, after a very long pause.

"I don't know what that is," Amanda admitted, "but the females of my family have always been witches. We can hear things that other people can't, and sometimes see things that other people can't see. Most of the time, we keep quiet about it. I don't think my uncle would exactly approve," she added.

Kitty nodded, thinking that Mister Windsor-Smyth probably didn't approve of anything very much, especially anything to do with female empowerment. Still, she was curious about Amanda's ability, "What do animals actually say?" she asked.

"Well, it's not as if they actually really talk very much, not what we would think of as talking, anyway," Amanda admitted, "but they can make their opinions quite clear with body language and intonation, things like that. And when they do talk, it's mostly telling anything that is a potential threat to stay away, and anything that is a potential food source, or a mate, to come forward. Generally speaking, animals have quite simple desires."

Kitty nodded thoughtfully, "And Justin talks to you?" she asked quietly.

Amanda nodded, "Sort of," she said, "it's more thoughts, the desire for food, for affection, for water, that sort of thing. He also likes watching the light show whenever I die on this computer game," she added.

"I'm dying to entertain my pet," muttered Kitty, "what is that game, anyway?"

Amanda grinned, "Oh, its great fun," she said, it's called _Emperors and Conquerors_, and the idea is that you have to take over the world."

Kitty gave her a sceptical look, as she leaned over and examined the computer, "Then why are you making peace contracts with those little islanders over there?" she asked.

"That's the clever bit," Amanda explained, "You get extra points for every year of world peace. So the trick is to kill off most of the factions, and only leave a small island kingdom standing, so you can trade with them, then annihilate them when you only have two or three more years left on your time clock."

"I'm glad you are not in charge of ruling the world," said Kitty sarcastically.

Amanda merely laughed, "It's all about strategy and planning ahead," she said, "just like you have to do when killing demons."

"Well, not quite like that," Kitty said, "I mean, for one thing, we have to save the world, not enslave and destroy it."

Amanda shrugged, "Details," she said, "it's all about planning, strategy, considering your next move. She pointed at a small green pixilated tank, "like this piece, for instance. It has limited fire power and defence, but use it carefully, and it can be the most valuable piece on the board. It's called a Trickster, and what it does is, it changes the factions of the other pieces, temporarily, to your side. So you can have them all fighting amongst themselves, while you just pull the strings from the background. It's quite a good strategy for winning, at least on the lower levels."

"And this is how you relax, is it?" Kitty asked sceptically, "By planning how to mind control pieces so that they will fight each other?"

Amanda nodded, "You did advise me to get some rest before we meet with these Luthi later," she reminded her, "and this is how I go about doing that."

"Fair enough," replied Kitty, "but I think I'll stick with hot baths, if it's all the same to you. I have enough trouble fighting real foes, without worrying about fighting virtual ones as well."


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 3 – The Luthi_

As they approached the Luthi's lair, Kitty became increasingly unsure that this was such a good idea. She remembered the last time that she had been in their company, the feelings of inferiority that washed over her, enveloping her very being, as she stared up at the flawless creatures that were, technically at least, their allies. And this time she had company; Amanda and the Nightcrawler were coming with her, and would be looking to her for advice and guidance. It would be hard to give them any sort of advice or guidance while under the influence of the Luthi's glamour, but at least she had experienced this before; maybe this would inoculate her to their effect, to a certain extent at least. Besides, she was unsure where else to turn for advice. She had asked Austin already, who had provided her with a number of old books on demons, but little of the advice he had given to her seemed to relate particularly to the current situation. There had never been hundreds of demon-slayers before, so anything she read related to a slightly different situation, and might not necessarily apply to their current predicament. And anyway, it was becoming increasingly obvious that she would have to contact the Luthi at some point; she had to consider all sources of information that might prove useful in stopping the upcoming apocalypse, and it did help that they did technically owe her a favour for stopping the last apocalypse from ending the world, and with it, their primary food source.

"I'm not sure that I like the look of this place," said Amanda nervously, looking around cautiously in case someone – or more likely some thing – jumped out from the shadows and attacked them.

Kitty nodded, also looking around. The area seemed to be run-down, abandoned, with a very unwelcoming feeling in the air. Rubbish swirled around in circles, blown about by the wind. This was the sort of place that parents told their children to stay away from, and all but the most foolhardy would do so gladly. Still, as far as Kitty knew this was the only entrance into the Luthi's lair, although the exit was in a totally different place. She tightened her grip on her wooden stake, "If something bad happens, we can deal with it, no problem," she said, giving Amanda and the Nightcrawler a small smile. "The entrance to the Luthi's lair is this way," she pointed to an abandoned warehouse at the far end of the lane.

"The Luthi's lair is in there?" Amanda asked, "I kind of thought that they would have more of a luxurious place, from what you were saying earlier."

"It's just the entrance to their place," Kitty said, "at least that is, it's just the entrance that I am allowed to use. They live below ground, in decadence. I'm not even sure if where they live is technically a part of our world." She gave Amanda a small smile, "As I explained earlier, they're not exactly forthcoming with information about themselves."

Without another word, Kitty carefully entered the warehouse. It was very dark inside; the only light source was the sun shining through the door, which was momentarily obscured while Amanda and the Nightcrawler followed behind her. As her eyes gradually adjusted to the light, she noticed the perfectly round circle of darker black, on the dusty floor, at the far left corner of the abandoned room. She indicated for Amanda and the Nightcrawler to follow her over there, as she cautiously walked towards it. The circle of blackness was in fact a hole, leading straight down. She smiled at her companions, although she was unsure if they could see her do so in the gloom, "Down here," she whispered. She was not quite sure why she was whispering, but it just seemed to be appropriate, given their surroundings, "be careful as you climb down."

She descended carefully, feeling the metal ladder cautiously beneath her hands and her feet. She certainly did not want to trip and fall, embarrassing herself in front of the companions who were looking to her for help and advice. But it was getting lighter now, as she descended further. Odd, there did not seem to be any natural light source, but she could still see her surroundings. She was in a small room, made out of white marble. At the far side there was a huge golden door. By the door, there was what looked like a woman, holding a spear, and watching them carefully as they descended into her lair. She made no movement, no threatening gesture whatsoever, but still Kitty felt that she was a potential danger. You know her, Kitty reminded herself; that's just the guard, the one they call Shadow-shine. She's not a danger, not yet at least. Besides, Amanda and the Nightcrawler are watching you; they want to see what should be done now.

Kitty reached the bottom step of the ladder, and walked carefully across the white marble floor towards Shadow-shine. Amanda and the Nightcrawler exchanged slightly uncertain looks, and then followed her.

Kitty took a deep breath, steeling her courage. She could feel it already, as she approached Shadow-shine, even from this distance. The feeling of inferiority, the sense of worthlessness that always seemed to accompany anyone when they were in the company of the Luthi. She turned around, and noticed that Amanda and the Nightcrawler seemed to be affected by it too. Strange, she had somehow thought that Nightcrawler, being a demon, might be immune to the effect. Well, there was no point in worrying about that now; they were both looking to her for advice. She held her head up high as she reached Shadow-shine, trying desperately to at least portray confidence, even though she did not feel in the least bit confident. "Good morning, Shadow-shine," she said simply.

The guard looked at her up and down for a long moment, as though trying to decide whether or not this creature was worth replying to. "Is it?" she asked, after a long moment, "where is your evidence for this?"

Kitty tried to smile, but it was difficult, when under Shadow-shine's dark gaze. The guard had long black hair, in ringlets down her waist; flawless, almost white skin, and eyes that shone in the dark, and were the colour of tawny wine. She looked almost as if she had been painted, or sculpted out of marble, perfect in every detail. Yet, at the same time, there was just something wrong with the image, almost like one of those weird paintings where the people keep going up the stairs only to arrive on the same level on which they started. Or perhaps one of those faces that had been made on a computer, by taking away the flaws, and making the face perfectly symmetrical. She looked perfect, but there was something wrong with the image. Every inch, stared at individually, was flawless, but the whole just seemed unnatural somehow, lacking all the tiny flaws, the tiny imperfections, that made people human. But she is not human, Kitty reminded herself. She's just wearing that form, or perhaps I'm just seeing that form, but it does not quite fit. That's why it looks wrong, somehow. Kitty smiled back at her, trying to portray confidence that she did not feel, "I daresay that it is a good morning for some people of the world," she said, "statistically speaking, considering the amount of people who dwell upon the Earth, it would be very unlikely that at least one of them is not currently enjoying a good morning."

Shadow-shine gave her a long look, as though trying to consider her words. She's weighing me up, Kitty realised; not being exactly threatening, but seeing if I'm worthy of her time and attention. It's like when wolves from different packs meet each other. The first thing that they do is try to figure out each other, weigh up each other's strengths and weaknesses, see if they are worth joining, or if the pack should be run out of their territory. Fine, I know what she's doing; I just wish that I could do something about this crippling feeling of insecurity I get whenever I am in the Luthi's presence.

"Your logic," said Shadow-shine, after staring at her for a just long enough to make her feel uncomfortable, "is acceptable, all else being equal. Why are you here?"

"I wish to speak to your mistress, Queen Umbah," Kitty replied, "there's another apocalypse coming along, and I'm hoping that she might be able to provide me with information that can stop it."

Shadow-shine continued to stare at Kitty. They were about the same height, but nevertheless, she managed to look down on her. Like a cat, Kitty thought; they might only be able to come up to your knees or so, but they still manage to look down on you. I guess that's because they were worshipped as gods in Ancient Egypt, and so have somehow come to expect as much. The Luthi are much the same way.

"Ah, another apocalypse," muttered Shadow-shine airily, "they come around so quickly nowadays. You barely get over one, and there is another one just about to come."

"Yes, like buses," said Kitty sarcastically, "you don't see one for ages, then three turn up all at once."

Shadow-shine gave a little laugh upon hearing that, "Apocalypses are like buses," she said, as though tasting the sentence, "an amusing simile, I must admit. Very well, I will allow you to see Umbah; it is, after all, quite possibly your own funeral if you do so. But who are your companions?" she pointed her spear suddenly at Amanda and the Nightcrawler, who had been looking slightly bewildered during Kitty's entire exchange with Shadow-shine, like people invited to attend a ceremony full of pomp and ceremony, where someone forgets to explain the rituals and rules that must be followed. They looked at the spear-tip nervously.

"They are with me," Kitty explained hastily, "they are my companions, my friends, they go where I go." She stared at Shadow-shine, not quite defiantly, but in a way that made it clear that there was no room for argument. Shadow-shine gave Kitty a slightly withering look, then shrugged ever so slightly, "If that is what you wish, you may all enter together, after all, what difference does it make to me?" Then she looked Amanda and the Nightcrawler up and down, as though appraising them, and seemed particularly pleased with Amanda. She took a step towards her, "A most interesting specimen of your race," she said.

"She's a slayer, like me," said Kitty quickly.

"Is that so?" asked Shadow-shine, examining Amanda approvingly with her eyes, "I like that in a person."

Amanda gave Kitty a slightly helpless look as Shadow-shine addressed her directly, "Would you like me to feed upon your blood? It can be quiet a euphoric sensation."

"No she wouldn't," said Kitty, "neither of them would. Don't do anything to undermine the fragile peace we have here, Shadow-shine, we just want to see your mistress, that is all."

Shadow-shine turned her attention back to Kitty, gave her a derisive look once more, then shrugged, "As you wish," she said, "follow me," with that she led the way into a dark tunnel. It seemed to be inclining downwards, but it was difficult to tell for certain, because it was almost totally dark inside. Kitty could just about make out the tip of Shadow-shine's spear, and the glowing yellow of the Nightcrawler's eyes. Strange as it may seem, that was oddly comforting. She spoke quietly to her companions, "Can either of you see anything?" she asked.

"Not much at all," Amanda admitted.

"I can see a bit," the Nightcrawler admitted, "but there's not that much too see right now. We seem to be going further and further underground. The walls are made of earth, and we are in some kind of round tunnel. I can't see any immediate danger," he added.

"Let's just hope that it stays that way," replied Kitty.

They carried on walking for maybe five minutes, and then emerged from the tunnel into what looked like a huge cave or cavern. Gold and jewels seemed to cover every available surface, glittering in the dim light of two torches. It looked like a pirate's treasure trove, or perhaps a South American mythical city of gold. It did not look like it belonged in the 21st Century. It's fake, just an image, an illusion, just like everything else in this place, Kitty thought to herself. In the centre of the grandeur, there was a golden throne. Lounging upon it was what appeared to be a young woman, who, like Shadow-shine, had incredibly pale skin and very dark hair. She seemed to be watching Kitty in a manner that was almost feline, as though perfectly assured of her own superiority, but unsure as yet whether these new creatures were worthy of her attention.

"You have guests," said Shadow-shine, waving her spear vaguely in Kitty's direction. "They want to talk to you about another apocalypse."

"Another one," she yawned theatrically, "apocalypse's come and go, but I will remain. What is another apocalypse to one such as me?"

Kitty gave her a long look. She could feel that sense of inferiority building up again, threatening to take over her being, making her want to run away as fast as she could. But Kitty had been through this before, and knew that she had to set an example for Amanda and the Nightcrawler, who, she noticed, were looking nervously at each other behind her. She turned her attention back to Queen Umbah, and gave her a very small smile, "They could make things very inconvenient for you," she said simply, "Oh, no doubt you would survive, I am aware of that. I do know, however, that you drink human blood as your main food source. Were an apocalypse to happen, this food source would no longer be available, or at least, become much harder to obtain." She indicated Queen Umbah's domain, "Your…kingdom," Kitty was unsure if that was the right word, but it would have to do, "is luxurious, rich and prosperous at the moment. Why risk changing that? What have you to gain if an apocalypse were to wipe out humanity from the face of the Earth?"

Queen Umbah watched her for a moment longer, and then sighed theatrically, "I will adjust, as I always have, to the changing circumstances of reality," she said, "but you do make a valid point. What is it, exactly, that you want from me?"

"Information," Kitty replied, "there's an apocalypse happening, and I want to stop it. I want to know how."

"You are asking the wrong question, child," Queen Umbah replied.

Kitty turned around to Amanda and the Nightcrawler. They looked just as confused as she did. Kitty turned her attention back to Queen Umbah, "And what is the right question?" she asked.

"What has changed recently?" Queen Umbah asked.

"Well, I've come here a few times," said Kitty slowly, looking around uncertainly.

"Indeed, and why is that?"

"To stop apocalypses," she replied, "or more accurately, to get the information I need in order to do so. There seem to be a lot of them coming recently."

"Ah. Exactly," said Queen Umbah, her eyes smiling at Kitty mischievously, "that is what has changed. There has been a recent increase in the number of times that the forces of darkness have tried to send your kind to their own dimension, their own reality, to end your own. And why do you think that is?"

Kitty sighed. It did not look like Queen Umbah was exactly inclined to give her answers, but then again, when was she ever? No, she wanted Kitty to figure it out for herself; she would not give easy answers. Kitty could not help feeling a certain amount of respect for her attitude, regardless of how infuriating it currently was.

"No answer?" Queen Umbah asked, "You disappoint me, child. Perhaps your friends can help you. Why do you not introduce me to them?"

She's playing a game, thought Kitty, and I have little option but to play along. But what harm can it do? "These are my friends," Kitty said, "they will come to no harm while I live."

Queen Umbah nodded, accepting that, "Understood," she said.

Kitty did not feel exactly reassured by her tone of voice, but continued anyway, "I call this creature the Nightcrawler, because he crawls in the night," she indicated for him to step forward, which he did, although it was clear that he felt awkward and confused under Queen Umbah's penetrating gaze.

"A most unusual specimen," she said, looking him up and down, before turning her attention to Amanda, "and the other specimen?"

"This is my friend Amanda," said Kitty, "she is a demon-slayer, like me."

"A most interesting sentence," said Queen Umbah, "I thought that there was only one demon-slayer at a time."

"There was," Kitty said, "but then there was this really powerful witch, and she made it so that all potential demon-slayers would become actual demon-slayers. There are hundreds of us now."

"So what has changed recently?" said Queen Umbah.

"You mean the fact that there are loads of slayers?" Kitty asked.

"You said that, I did not," said Queen Umbah, getting off of her throne and approaching Kitty slowly, "nevertheless," she paused for a moment, and wrinkled her tiny nose, as though an unpleasant odour had suddenly assaulted her nostrils. She turned to Amanda, "Why have you got a rat in your pocket?" she asked suddenly.

"What, I don't have…" Amanda reached inside her pocket, and then groaned slightly as she pulled out Justin.

"That is a good question," she said, turning her attention to the little rat, "what were you doing in my pocket?"

The rat squeaked, and looked down, his small face contrite. Amanda shook her head. Then she explained, "Justin said that he did not want me to be with the blue show-off creature. He was feeling jealous that I was to be with the blue-show off creature, as he wanted my attention to be only for him. So he crept into my pocket when I was not looking." She turned her attention back to the rat, and stroked his head, "Listen, the Nightcrawler and I are friends, that is all. He and Kitty are clearly devoted to each other, and I would not want to get in the way of that for anything."

"That's stupid," said Kitty, just a little bit too quickly, "I don't feel anything like that for him, he's just, well…" her voice trailed off. The Nightcrawler himself just looked down at his feet.

"Oh come Kitty, even a rat should be able to see it," said Amanda, laughing slightly, "it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"That's silly," said Kitty, looking down to hide her blush, "and anyway, we have an apocalypse to worry about," she added, turning her attention back to Queen Umbah, who seemed amused at her embarrassment.

"Indeed," she said.

"So you're saying that the recent increase in demons trying to bring about the apocalypse is due to the increase in the number of slayers?" she asked.

"I did not say such a thing," replied Queen Umbah, "nevertheless…there is a certain balance, which has shifted, recently, in your side's favour. It would hardly be improbable that the other side would not push back."

"So they'll keep on trying to shift the balance back," Kitty murmured, more to herself than to anyone else, "and that means they will be keen to keep on attempting to bring about the apocalypse. I've barely stopped one, then I have to start working on stopping another."

"And of course, they only have to win once," said Queen Umbah, "no matter how good you are, how clever, how skilful, it is only a matter of time until you make a mistake. One that will be fatal, not only for yourself, but for your people too. I daresay you wish to prevent this disaster from happening?"

"That's why I came here," said Kitty, "fine, so we know why there are more apocalypses happening now than before, but how do I go about preventing this one?"

"I can only point you in the right direction, from there, what happens is up to you and your companions," Queen Umbah replied.

Kitty stifled a sigh, "I suppose it is the best I could hope for. Very well, lead the way and I shall follow."

"And that goes for your two human companions as well, does it?"

Kitty was about to protest that the Nightcrawler was a demon, not human, but something made her stop. They do not give straight answers if they can help it, but they hardly ever lie. Perhaps she was giving her a clue, a hint. Kitty looked around at the Nightcrawler and Amanda, who smiled their consent. "They go where I go," she said.

"Very well, young slayer, Then follow me," and with that Queen Umbah lead them down another dark corridor, to face an unknown fate.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 4 - Circus of Secrets, Circus of Fear_

"Through that portal, you will find that which you seek," Queen Umbah informed Kitty, pointing directly towards the circle of daylight at the end of the tunnel ahead of them.

Feeling more than a little apprehensive, Kitty nodded, and then made her way towards the indicated tunnel. She could hear Amanda and the Nightcrawler following her, but they were still looking towards her for guidance and advice. This would have been much more reassuring if she knew exactly what she was supposed to be doing. Still, it was nice that they seemed to trust her judgement; she just wished she herself could trust her own judgement.

Upon exiting from the tunnel, Kitty rubbed her eyes, and blinked in confusion. She could not have really seen what she thought she had seen; could she? No, it had to be a trick of the light, perhaps a remnant of the Luthi's glamour. She had just thought that she had seen one of the teachers from her school, dressed as a huge shaggy blue monster, and quoting Shakespeare, while demonstrating obvious distress. Kitty shook her head to clear it. She must be imagining things; it had to be all the stress that she had been under recently. After all, stopping an apocalypse could be quite stressful; it was hardly surprising that it was beginning to affect her.

"Is something wrong?" Amanda called from behind her, making her almost jump in fright.

Kitty sighed, then relaxed a bit, "It's nothing," she said, trying to convince herself, more than anyone else, "I just thought I saw something strange, but it's gone now."

"I…I know this place…" the Nightcrawler said, his voice very quiet, and full of fear and dread.

Kitty looked around. The place did look familiar. She looked at the Nightcrawler, who was staring around himself in panic, and she suddenly remembered. This was where she had met him, several weeks ago now, when he had been a mangy mess, and had begged her to spare his life. Why had the Luthi led her here? Perhaps there was something here that she had missed when she had been here before, some clue that could help her to stop the upcoming apocalypse. She was about to say this, but was interrupted by the Nightcrawler.

"The circus…the circus where I was a prisoner… it is here," he pointed straight ahead of them, to a huge tend surrounded by maybe a dozen or so caravans. He was shaking visibly now, and looked like he might run in the opposite direction at any moment.

Amanda noticed too, "Would you like to go somewhere else?" she asked the Nightcrawler quietly, putting a reassuring hand upon his arm, "you don't have to go there if you don't want to," she smiled at him.

The Nightcrawler's eyes flashed yellow, and as he stared at her, there was a sudden madness in their glowing depths, "No, I don't want to run away," he said, his voice quiet, but unusually full of malice, "no, I want revenge!" and with that he raced off in the direction of the huge tent, leaving Amanda and Kitty staring at each other, eyes wide and gaping in shock.

"Um…I guess we should follow him?" said Amanda, after a very long pause.

"Yes," Kitty replied, "that's not like him at all. We'd better make sure that he does not get himself hurt or worse."

It only took a minute or two for Amanda and Kitty to reach the Nightcrawler, but it was obvious that a lot had happened in that short space of time. The Nightcrawler had reached the huge tent, and had clearly found a rather fat man, who was dressed in the fancy clothes of a ringmaster. This man was currently on the ground, being pummelled by the fists of the Nightcrawler, who was staring at him with a hatred tinged with madness. The man was trying, with decidedly limited success, to ward of the blows which kept coming, and to convince the Nightcrawler to stop hitting him. The Nightcrawler clearly had no intention to obey him.

"You monster!" he screamed, "Kept me in a cage for years," there was a pause while he hit him twice, "little food, kept in filthy conditions, beaten and worse. Well, let's see how you like it! Not very nice to be hit is it?" He hit him three more times, "Well, here's a taste of your own medicine. Choke on it!" He hit him a few more times, emphasising his words and his anger.

Kitty looked at Amanda again. She was clearly as shocked as Kitty herself at the Nightcrawler's behaviour. The Nightcrawler had always seemed agreeable, permissive to the point of passivity, always tolerant and willing to do whatever Kitty or anyone else had asked of him. This sudden change of behaviour seemed strange and ever so slightly scary. Kitty turned her attention back to the Nightcrawler once more. But this man kept him as a prisoner, a slave, since childhood, neglected and possibly abused, for who knows how many years. It's perhaps no wonder that something inside of him seemed to snap when he had a chance, finally, to get revenge. There seemed little doubt that the man deserved all that he was receiving.

"Um…should we help him?" asked Amanda uncertainly, watching the Nightcrawler pummelling the man on the ground. Justin the rat poked his head out of her pocket, and watched with interest, clearly enjoying the show.

"I think he's doing quite well without our help," said Kitty.

"I meant the man," said Amanda, wincing as another blow was delivered to his fat stomach.

"Why should we help him?" Kitty asked, folding her arms over her chest, "if you ask me, he deserves exactly what he is getting."

They watched for about a minute more. Amanda shook her head sadly, "That's almost certainly true," she said, "but he's still human, and the Nightcrawler might kill him."

"I don't think that would be such a bad thing," Kitty replied.

There was another pause, where they both continued to watch the Nightcrawler getting his revenge. Amanda then turned her attention back to Kitty, "It's not that I don't agree with you," she said, "but my uncle said that slayers don't kill people, only demons. And it looks like the Nightcrawler might kill a human being."

"Well, it's not like we're doing it, then, is it?" Kitty pointed out, as she watched the Nightcrawler continue to punch the man, "it's just a demon killing a human. Demons kill people all the time, they're known for it."

"But still," said Amanda, "we are slayers; it's kind of our role to stop demons from killing people, isn't it? And that doesn't just mean the ones we like, the ones who are nice. It also means that we have to save the nasty ones too. They're human, after all."

"I'm not sure that anything truly human could be that cruel to a sentient creature," said Kitty darkly.

"That's hardly fair," said Amanda, wincing as she heard a particularly forceful blow being delivered, "just look at the history books, look at any newspaper, and you will see humans being just as nasty to each other as any demon could ever possibly be."

"So it's a moral issue, is it?" Kitty asked, frowning slightly, "We have to save him because he has a human soul. But we can destroy demons without a second thought, because they lack a human soul, and the compassion that is supposed to go with it. But all those people who are much nastier than soulless demons get off free, because of that soul. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Surely the ones with the soul are worse than the demons, because they should have a conscious, whereas at least the demons have the excuse of being soulless for their evil actions, and so are just being themselves, can't help being what they themselves are, is that what you're saying?"

Amanda sighed, and looked down, "I didn't say it made sense, or that it was just," she admitted, "but if we let him kill a human, are we really any better than the demons we fight?"

They continued to watch the Nightcrawler pummel the man some more. "It's a moral, philosophical question, is it?" asked Kitty after a while.

"I just don't think that it's up to us to decide who is worthy of being saved and who isn't," Amanda replied.

Kitty watched the Nightcrawler a moment longer. Though she hated to admit it, Amanda did have a point. "Oh, very well," she sighed, "we'll stop him before he delivers the killing blow, that's got to be a fair compromise, hasn't it? But he seems to be enjoying himself so much right now, and I think he deserves the chance to get his revenge on the man that has been so cruel to him in the past, don't you?"

Amanda breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said, in barely more than a whisper. They continued to watch the Nightcrawler getting his revenge in silence for a minute or so longer, and then Amanda said thoughtfully, "Should he really be able to do that? Hurt any living thing, including a human being, when he is wearing that restricting collar of his?"

Kitty had almost forgotten about the collar, but now that she thought about it, Amanda did have a point. "Perhaps it's broken?" she suggested uncertainly.

"But if it is broken," Amanda said slowly, "then surely he could have hurt us or anyone else at any time."

"But chose not to," Kitty finished, "because he had no reason to. Besides, attacking a slayer is a very silly thing for a demon to do. Many demons have discovered that it is the very last thing that they were able to do." She felt slightly smug about that.

"Um…something weird is happening…" said Amanda uncertainly. Indeed, this seemed to be the case. The fat man, who had only a moment ago been lying on the ground while the Nightcrawler had been getting his breath back, suddenly appeared to smirk, and then to reach down to his shirt, and unzip his flesh. It was really quite disgusting, watching as his animated skeleton suddenly seemed to abandon his body like an outgrown garment, and get up, leaving his flesh behind. The skeleton advanced towards the Nightcrawler, who, not surprisingly really, looked very confused and unsure. The animated skull was grinning, which perhaps was not that surprising all things considered, but the way in which the skeleton moved suggested a demeanour of menace and violence, which was, all things considered, a lot more surprising.

"Oh," said Kitty, blinking uncertainly, "So he was a skeleton demon who was just pretending to be human, for some as yet unknown reason. Well, that makes the moral issue clearer, I suppose."

Amanda gave her a sideways glance, "Now there's a comment I never thought I'd hear," she muttered sarcastically, "and here's one I never thought I'd say; so how do we defeat an undead skeleton demon?"

Kitty had to admit that that was a question that had never been presented to her before. She merely grinned at Amanda, "Granted, the issue might be morally clearer now, but destroying an undead skeleton demon does admittedly present certain problems. Still, I think that pummelling it down to atoms is pretty effective at destroying most demons, don't you?"

With that, both Amanda and Kitty advanced on the animated skeleton, just as the Nightcrawler seemed to have recovered from his initial shock at the transformation, and had started to punch the creature once more. But they were suddenly all interrupted when they heard a voice from behind one of the caravans, followed by a growl, "Master Haki, we caught another one! Come and see the one that we caught!"

Using the momentary distraction, the skeleton demon quickly picked up his flesh, put it back on, and zipped it up once more, as though it was some form of fancy suit. In the next moment he stepped back, and suddenly the ground underneath Kitty, Amanda and the Nightcrawler gave way. Within a moment, they found themselves falling down inside a hole in the ground. They fell maybe twelve feet, landing upon the soft earth below them. Kitty shook herself momentarily, and got to her feet, just as a metal grid slid into place over the entrance to the hole above them.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked uncertainly.

"I think so," replied Amanda, getting to her feet, "things just seemed to happen too fast up there, I'm still not quite sure what happened."

Kitty was not sure either, but did not really want to admit this. "Well, that skeleton demon does not seem to want his thugs to know that he isn't human," she said, "I guess that's understandable, we all have aspects of ourselves that we don't want to be made public, and I guess human thugs might be prepared to do all manner of things for a human boss, but would be quite unwilling to do the same for a demon boss."

"And they have a captive," said Amanda thoughtfully, "not the only one, by the sound of it. But how did we end up at the bottom of this hole?"

"I think I can explain that," said the Nightcrawler quietly, "this is a circus, and circuses are full of tricks and mirrors, hidden panels and deception. It's not necessarily bad; it can be all part of the act. Sliding doors, hidden panels, secret chambers, all of that sort of stuff is used by stage magicians. We had something similar back in Bavaria. We had underground storerooms that were used during a magician's tricks. The rest of the time, they were used for storage."

"What did you store in them?" Amanda asked curiously.

The Nightcrawler shrugged. "Costumes, props, food for the horses, that sort of thing. There's nothing mystical about them."

Amanda nodded thoughtfully, "A perfect place to hide things. If the authorities were to come looking, then they could simply say that it was part of the act, and why should they think otherwise, when the circus itself depends upon deception and hidden compartments?"

"Quiet, both of you!" hissed Kitty, "There's something going on up there, and I want to hear what it is!"

The Nightcrawler and Amanda suddenly become silent. There was certainly a fracas going on above them, but Kitty could not hear what was being said, above the screams and howls that echoed down from above. She sighed, "No good. I still can't understand what they're saying," she said after a long pause.

"I can, I think," said the Nightcrawler, staring up above them, "They seem to have a captive who is causing quite a lot of racket, and they are beginning to regret capturing him. And there are other voices too, now. It seems that there are at least three others, and they also want the captive. Now they are having a row, and the captive is just yelling louder and louder."

"Is it the Luthi?" asked Amanda uncertainly, "Are they helping us?"

"I doubt that they would want to get their perfectly manicured nails dirty by doing any actual fighting," muttered Kitty, "they don't mind giving slayers clues to help them, but are a lot less willing to provide any practical help."

"So what do we do now?" asked the Nightcrawler.

"Next time, warn me before you go off and try to pummel someone to death," Kitty replied, "I can't say that I exactly blame you for wanting revenge on him, but we could have been more subtle about it."

"Sorry," the Nightcrawler replied, looking down contritely.

Kitty merely sighed. "Well, it's done now."

Justin the rat peeked out of Amanda's pocket once more, to see what was going on, but quickly darted back down again when he heard loud noises coming from above them.

There was some more screaming and yelling from above them. Then there was the sound of barking, of angry guard dogs approaching. Kitty looked up at where a couple of huge guard dogs were looking down at them, in a manner that was anything but friendly. Kitty sighed once more. "Well, whatever it is that they are doing up there, they don't seem to want us to interfere with it. Or escape," she added.

"Those poor dogs," said Amanda, "they are half mad; they haven't been fed for days."

Justin the rat squeaked in fear, and burrowed deeper into Amanda's pocket.

"They'll feed on your bones by the sound of it, if you give them half a chance," muttered Kitty.

"I'm sorry," said the Nightcrawler again, "I did not mean to cause all this trouble."

Kitty shook her head, "We've found a valuable clue, which is worth the trouble. I'm going to see if there are any more pits like this." With that she phased through the earthen walls of the pit, not sure what she was going to find, but certainly in no mood to wait in the hole any longer than she absolutely had to. Phasing was a lot like swimming; she could see and move through the earth with only minor difficulties, but she could not breathe. After a minute or so, she realised that she would have to return to the pit before she would be able to breathe again, since there did not appear to be any other similar pits or holes in the immediate vicinity. Feeling more than a little irritated, she returned to the hole where the Nightcrawler and Amanda were still waiting uncertainly.

"I did not know that you could do that," admitted Amanda.

"We all have secrets we like to keep," Kitty admitted, "I told you that I was a mutant, phasing is my mutant power."

"Did you find anything to help us?" The Nightcrawler asked quietly.

Kitty shook her head, "No, unfortunately, it's all earth, earth and more earth. But at least I know that now."

"When Justin saw you vanish he got scared," Amanda said, "and decided to follow you," she pointed to a small tunnel in the side of the pit, just big enough for a small rat to squeeze through.

"Just like a rat deserting a sinking ship," muttered the Nightcrawler.

"Well, not really," replied Amanda, "He is a rat, but this is not a ship, and he is off to find help, not exactly deserting us."

"Realistically, what can a rat actually do?" Kitty asked.

Amanda merely smiled at her, "Don't underestimate him, he's a lot smarter than he looks, and is pretty determined to find some kind of help."

The Nightcrawler and Kitty exchanged sceptical glances, but both decided that it was probably best not to argue. "So what do we do now?" asked the Nightcrawler quietly.

Kitty merely shrugged, and sighed, "We just wait," she said, "and hope for the best."


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 5 – The Morlocks_

**Author's notes – Thank you, those who have reviewed and/or added this story to their favourites list. It means a great deal to me to know that you are enjoying this, and are finding the narration and dialogue witty and entertaining. I hope I will not disappoint you with this next chapter. Enjoy!**

"I think I can hear something," said Amanda, putting her head against the side of the pit, and grinning.

Kitty gave her an uncertain look. "Is that good, bad, or indifferent?" she asked.

"It's Justin, and he's not alone," Amanda replied.

"What's he found?" asked the Nightcrawler, slightly nervously.

Amanda was quiet for a moment, clearly listening, "He's saying, 'Run, run, chased, must run, no get caught, must run, return to mistress, run run run!'" she said. "And there are dogs there too," she added.

Kitty looked up at where the guard dogs were looking down at them, growling menacingly. "I'm not sure that that's such a good thing," she muttered.

"No, not nasty dogs, friendly dogs," Amanda said, "dogs that have been treated well." She was silent for a moment longer, "They're saying, 'Run run, chase small white rodent running thing! Chase, fun, joy of the chase, pleasure in running, pleasure in chasing small running thing. Joy of the chase."

"These animals should really invest in a book explaining the importance of grammar," Kitty muttered.

"Animals don't think like that," Amanda replied, "but there's someone with them, human by the sound of it," she pressed her head harder against the side, "he's talking to the dogs," she said, "he's saying, 'Sprocket, Grommet, you stupid dogs, it's just a rat. There are probably thousands of creatures just like that, all round us. Oh very well, it's about time I took you for a walk anyway, you stupid dogs. Mind you, that rat's a lot cleaner than the sort we usually get around here, and you don't see many rats that colour. Well, maybe the dogs are right, for once.'"

"And you can hear all that, can you?" Kitty asked sceptically.

"Witches in my family have always had very keen hearing," Amanda replied dismissively, "how else could we hear rats talking? Anyway, they're getting closer now, you should be able to hear them yourself pretty soon."

Kitty looked at her sceptically, but placed her own ear against the side of the pit, and nearly received a terrified, running Justin in her ear. Panting, the rat jumped out of the tiny hole, onto her shoulder, and then leapt to Amanda's outstretched hands. Somehow, he managed to look very proud of himself, almost to the point of looking smug. The Nightcrawler turned away from him in disgust.

"Is anyone there?" Kitty could just make out the muffled yell from the other side of the pit. She could also make out the sound of excited dogs, busily and happily digging towards them with a degree of enthusiasm rarely observed outside of the canine population.

"Yes," Amanda called back, before Kitty had a chance to reply, "We'd appreciate some help here."

"Okay. Stand to the side, if you don't want to be fricasseed on a flaming spike!" came the reply from the other side of the pit.

Amanda, Kitty and the Nightcrawler all gave each other confused looks, but quickly decided that it would be best to do as he suggested. After about half a minute, a flaming spike did indeed come whistling towards them, flinging earth and mud in every direction. The spike landed with a loud twang on the opposite side of the pit, still glowing slightly. Kitty stared at it for a moment, before turning her attention to the dogs, and to the…individual, whatever he was, that seemed to be their master.

He looked like some form of armadillo demon, or perhaps an insect demon; his entire body was covered in a spiked exoskeleton, which had no doubt proved to be useful protection in the past, a natural suit of armour. "You know, it's rude to stare," he said.

"Sorry," muttered Kitty, and then looked down as one of the dogs ran up to her and started licking her hands, face and neck, while jumping up at her excitedly. She tried to stop laughing as the shaggy grey mongrel continued to shower her with affection, not to mention slobber, with more enthusiasm and energy than could possibly be necessary. She turned her head, and saw that another dog, this time a creamy yellow colour, but otherwise practically identical to its companion, was showing just as much affection towards Amanda and the Nightcrawler.

The strange boy in the spiked armour merely sighed. "So much for guard dogs," he muttered, "Sprocket and Grommet don't seem to realise that not all strangers are friendly, or enjoy being licked to death."

Amanda laughed, as she tried to gently but firmly prevent the mongrel from licking her face, "It's okay," she managed to say, with some difficulty, "I'd take this sort of dog above those up there any day," she pointed upwards to where the two guard dogs were still looking down at them.

"So, they're still up to their tricks, are they?" the armoured boy said thoughtfully, "Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Still, it's probably safer that you come with me, rather than wait here, just in case something goes wrong with the hunting party."

"Hunting party?" Kitty asked nervously.

"I'll explain as we walk. You can walk can't you?" the armoured boy asked.

"Yes, I've been doing that for several years, it's really quite easy, you just put one foot in front of the other, shift your weight and keep repeating the procedure," Kitty muttered sarcastically.

"Oh, very funny," he replied, not laughing, "I meant that you are not hurt so you can't move or anything."

"We're fine," Amanda replied, "Kitty and I are slayers, and slayers are known for being tough."

Kitty gave her an annoyed glance. Though the newcomer did not seem particularly hostile, and had helped them, she was still not sure that he was a friend, and did not think that it would be a good idea if he knew too much about them just yet. After all, they were a couple of slayers in the company of a demon, and there were plenty of people who would be quite hostile towards such an unusual group of companions.

"Slayers huh," the armoured boy shifted uncomfortably, "we've met slayers before. Some of us have lived to regret that. Some of us haven't."

There was an awkward silence for a long moment, interrupted only by Sprocket and Grommet noisily showing affection to Kitty, Amanda and the Nightcrawler.

"We really don't want to cause you any harm, any trouble," said Amanda, as she stroked the dog, "but we would appreciate any help that you can give us."

"It's not exactly up to me," the boy replied, "you'll have to speak to the leader of our clan; she will decide one way or the other. Follow me," he indicated for them to follow him along the tunnel that his dogs had no doubt recently made. They walked in silence for a long while, as the tunnel then led into another tunnel, and as that tunnel once more led off into yet another tunnel, with more tunnels leading off from it, a veritably underground burrow of tunnels, all connected to one another. There were torches along the walls, but they only provided a small amount of light in the underground gloom.

Kitty was starting to feel nervous. What if they were being led into a trap? Well, a slayer could defend herself against most demons, but here, underground, where it was so easy to lose your sense of direction, or sense of the passage of time, she would be at a distinct disadvantage compared to someone who knew the tunnels well. Plus, he had dogs, although they did not seem like they could do anything more than smother someone with affection. Still, it would not have been the first time that a demon had tricked her by initially presenting a friendly and helpful personality, only to later reveal himself to be anything but helpful or friendly.

"I'm Spike, and you're scared," said the armoured boy in front of them. "Can't say I blame you, you quickly learn to be afraid of strangers when you live as a Morlock. I won't hurt you, and Sprocket and Grommet wouldn't know how to hurt anyone even if they wanted to. But I can't say about Callisto, she's not too keen on slayers, I can tell you that for nothing."

"You said something about a hunting party?" said Amanda nervously.

"Right, I did," Spike replied, "Callisto's up there with some of our best warriors, even as we speak, above ground. Seems like they've managed to enhance another mutant, bring his mutant power to its full extent. It's best we get to him before those circus demons do. He will be worried, confused, and likely to lash out with the slightest provocation, which is really not a good situation to be in when circus demons are looking out for their latest prey. I was left behind to guard the colony, but nothing much was happening, so I decided to take the dogs out for a bit of a walk along one of our tunnels. That's when we saw that rat of yours," here he pointed at Justin, "and the dogs got so excited that I could not ignore their panicking. So we followed it, and found you, and here we are."

Kitty and Amanda looked at each other in no small amount of confusion, but it was the Nightcrawler who spoke, nervously, towards Spike, "Um, what do your people do to demons?" he asked.

"Usually we chop them up into little pieces or set them on fire or behead them," he replied cheerfully.

"Um…" the Nightcrawler began, "I'd really appreciate it if you would not do that to me, if you really don't mind…" his voice trailed off as Spike turned around and looked at him.

"Huh?" he asked, "Why would we want to harm you?"

Kitty and Amanda looked at each other nervously, getting ready to inflict violence if necessary, but wanting to avoid it if at all possible.

"Uh," the Nightcrawler began, "I thought you said that you like to chop demons up into little pieces and behead them and put them on fire…?" his voice trailed off again.

"But you're not a demon, are you?" Spike asked, "You look more like a mutant to me, one of the enhanced mutants. We've got loads like you back at the colony."

"Um, enhanced mutants?" Amanda asked curiously.

Spike pointed upwards, "That's what they're up to up there, enhancing mutants, bringing them out to their full capacity. Most mutants sort of look human, but have some sort of power, sometimes it's a blessing, but more often than not, it's a curse. Still, they can fit in with society, and though you always get the bad ones that give the rest of us a bad name, for most of the time they just want to live their lives in peace and have normal lives and things. But then you get those circus demons up there. They've been enhancing mutants for I don't know how long, long before my time anyway. Brings out the mutant to its most enhanced level, makes them no longer look human, can no longer manage to fit in in society. So they come here, and join us, the Morlocks, in our underground lair. That's what you are, isn't it?" he said, turning his attention back to the Nightcrawler suddenly, "an enhanced mutant, just like me?"

"I'll be anything you like if it means you won't chop me into pieces or set me on fire or do something similar to me," the Nightcrawler replied.

"We don't harm those that are not trying to harm us," Spike replied, "but we will defend ourselves, to the death if it comes to that."

Kitty was looking at the Nightcrawler curiously. Was it possible that he was not a demon after all, but a mutant, just like she was? It would explain a lot, but there were more immediate things to worry about right now, including these Morlocks and their understandable ambivalence towards slayers. And then there was the slightly worrying thought: what if Spike was right? What if some creatures that she thought had been demons had in fact just been enhanced mutants? She might have killed one by mistake! The thought was terrifying, but she brushed it aside almost as quickly as it came; she did not harm things that were not trying to inflict harm on her, and could hardly be blamed for defending herself when attacked. Still, it was a disconcerting thought that she might be a murderer, however unintentionally that might be.

They arrived in a large chamber, a sort of underground great hall. From the far end of the hall, maybe forty pairs of eyes blinked at them, gazing uncertainly at the newcomers. As Kitty stepped cautiously into the chamber, she saw them clearly for the first time. Some of them looked quite scary, all spikes and armoured exoskeletons, others looked almost cute, soft and furry like huge stuffed toys. The one thing that they all had in common, however, was that they would not be able to blend in well in a crowd, unless of course that crowd consisted of a group of people out celebrating Halloween, and trying to come up with the most imaginative costume they could think of. If that were the case, then they would fit right in.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a howl, and then she saw a wooden cage being wheeled towards the centre of the chamber. Inside the cage was someone who looked disconcertingly familiar, despite the fact that he was currently a huge, blue furry beast. In front of the cage was someone who looked normal, at least, in comparison to her companions. She had an eye patch over one eye, and a steely glint in the other. She had short black hair and an expression of mild irritation on her handsome face, as she strode towards Kitty and her companions.

"Spike, what is this?" she asked, turning to the armoured boy.

"I found them," Spike replied, "in one of the pits. I think one of them is an enhanced mutant."

"That's all we need right now," muttered the dark haired woman, "as if we didn't have enough to worry about. Still, they might be of use." She turned her attention towards Kitty, "Greetings," she said, "I am Callisto of the Morlocks. If you need a place to stay to escape from persecution in the world above, then we have the room, but we expect you to earn your keep, just like everyone else here."

Kitty gave Amanda and the Nightcrawler an uncertain look, then stepped forward, "Your offer is appreciated," she said, "but I doubt that we will be able to stay very long. We have an apocalypse to stop, and reason to believe that we are close to its source. If you can help us in any way, your help would be appreciated," she added.

Callisto gave her a long look, "And why would a girl like you, and your companions, be busying yourselves with stopping an apocalypse?" she asked.

"She's a slayer," Spike said, "so is her friend," he pointed to Amanda.

Callisto stared at Kitty for a long moment, "We have lost some of our dear friends due to slayers," she said, "many of our kind have come to join us to get away from their wrath."

Kitty swallowed, but realised that she was being tested, leader to leader. Callisto needed to know that Kitty posed no threat to her people, since she wanted to protect them. Kitty could hardly hate her for that. "I am sorry for your losses," Kitty began reasonably, somehow knowing that even attempting to lie to Callisto would be a very bad idea, "but I do not hunt and kill that which is not trying to hunt or kill me. If you need further proof, then speak to my companion," she indicated the Nightcrawler, "He will tell you that I speak the truth."

"It is true," said the Nightcrawler, "several weeks ago now, Kitty had every reason to kill me, but chose not to, despite my appearance, and the situation we were in."

"Um, excuse me," said the big shaggy blue creature in the wooden cage, "I do so very hate to interrupt this conversation, but would someone mind telling me," here he balled his clawed hands into fists, and began shouting, "what exactly is going on here?!"

"Um, Mr McCoy, is that you?" asked Kitty, suddenly feeling more than a little awkward.

The huge blue beast was suddenly silent, looking at Kitty with calm eyes, "Oh, Ms Pryde, how good to see you," he said, "a ray of sanity in a realm of chaos. I must say I was very impressed with your most recent essay, top of the class again."

"Um," said Kitty, looking around at the suddenly stunned faces that were looking at her, "he's a teacher. He teaches at my school. That's how he knows me. Um…"

"Ah, Ms Pryde, I come across this a lot. It seems that students are often surprised to find teachers doing anything outside of school, which can make doing a simple task such as grocery shopping a potentially arduous experience."

"Well, yes, there is that…" Kitty began, not quite sure how to phrase what she wanted to say. Fortunately, Mr McCoy was able to phrase it for her.

"And no doubt you are currently wondering why I happen to look like something out of a _Pixar _movie," he said.

"Well, that wasn't quite how I was going to put it," Kitty admitted, "but, well…yes?"

"I, too, would be quite glad to receive that information. I believe that our companions might have answers to our queries," he turned towards Callisto, "is that correct, madam?"

"It's them up there," Callisto pointed upwards, "been enhancing mutants again. It brings the mutant within you out to its most extreme form. That's what has happened to the Morlocks. So that's why we built a base here. So that there would be somewhere where we could go, somewhere where we would be safe."

"I understand your need to hide from the world above," Amanda said cautiously, "but what I don't understand is why those demons are interested in bringing out your powers to their most extreme level. I mean, why? Wouldn't that make you stronger and better able to defend yourselves?"

"Often, yes," Callisto admitted, "but you forget about slayers. A slayer sees an enhanced mutant, thinks it's a demon, kills it and is seriously wounded in the process. One mutant dead, one slayer ill, all without the demon lifting a finger. Or a claw for that matter. Pretty clever, really."

"That's quite chilling, really," Kitty admitted, "but it's not as if slayers go around hunting things that aren't trying to kill them, at least, most of them don't. If for no other reason than they're too busy trying to hunt down things which_ are_ trying to kill them."

"Again, the problem is up there, those clever little demons up above," said Callisto. "They've managed to artificially create a demon of their own, big guy, but not especially tough by demon standards. And this artificial demon, it's got the ability to temporarily take control of a person's mind, make them do things against their will. So what does this clever demon do? Takes control of an enhanced mutant's mind, makes it attack a slayer. Of course, the slayer thinks it's a demon, so she fights it, often kills it. And even if she doesn't, the demon's still won, 'cause there's a pretty beat up slayer, and a mutant that is grateful to have escaped with its life if not necessarily its limbs. And then you wonder why we aren't so keen on slayers down here."

"It's like with my computer game," said Amanda thoughtfully, "a trickster unit doesn't have to be particularly strong or tough, but place it in the right area so it can take control of other powerful units, and you've got a pretty good strategy going."

Kitty nodded, and then spoke to Callisto, "As I said, I am sorry for your losses. And if I, or my companions, have killed one of your kind by mistake, I am sorry for that. But if the creature was attacking us, you can hardly blame us for defending ourselves. It is not exactly possible to worry about ethical issues when some creature is trying to gorge your eye out with one claw, and your spleen out with the other. Even if it was being controlled at the time. As I said before, I do not try to harm something that is not trying to harm me, but I will defend myself. To the death, if necessary."

Callisto looked at her for a long moment, and then nodded, as though satisfied. "Your words make sense, girl. I for one, would be willing to help you, in any way that I can, but I will not put my people in any unnecessary risk."

"Thank you," said Kitty, "right now, what we really need is information. How are we supposed to fight something that can control our minds?"

"Well, now that's the problem, isn't it?" said Callisto, "If you can get close enough to them, they're not so very tough, but getting close, now that is the issue. We've been trying to think of a way to do that for a while now. So far with minimal success."

"What we really want to do," said Spike, "is to get into their lair, their realm, and destroy those things at source, before they have a chance to realise that we're there. Of course, that's easier said than done."

"There's an entrance to their lair around here?" asked the Nightcrawler.

"Oh there's an entrance all right," said Callisto dismissively, "but you can't exactly use it. It's right in the centre of that big top over there. Unfortunately, there's six feet of solid steel surrounding it in all directions. You won't be able to reach it unless you can walk straight through solid steel."

Kitty gave her a smug look, "What a coincidence," she said, "I am able to do exactly that!"


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 6 – Into the Demon Lair_

Kitty, Amanda and the Nightcrawler waited as patiently as they could manage, behind the Big Top. Spike had agreed to create a diversion, which would hopefully attract the attention of any demons in the immediate vicinity. Spike and five of his Morlock companions had agreed to attack from one side, so that most of the demons would come and attack them, and make it easier for Kitty and her companions to enter the demons' lair without attracting too much attention. Amanda had compared it to her computer game; a good strategy was to send off a fairly small attacking force, to get the attention of the guards. Then, while they were busy causing trouble, a smaller group, perhaps even a single unit, would sneak in to a carefully selected weak link in the enemies' defences, and create all sorts of trouble while the enemy was busily trying to decimate the other units. But this is no game, Kitty thought, as she waited for the flaming stake that was their cue to sneak into the Big Top; if things go wrong, real people could be seriously hurt, perhaps killed. That is why we have to be clever, cunning. We could try to attack all the demons in this circus, and would doubtlessly be able to kill quite a few of them, but they also have a powerful weapon on their side, these artificial demons that can control people, and so we have to be just as cunning as they are.

Spike had explained it to them on the way here; there were only a few hundred of these artificial demons, because they took so long to make, but they had been carefully placed throughout the world. And all they really had to do was take hold of a few people in power, push already hostile situations into even greater conflicts and war with a carefully placed word or action, and the amount of humans in a given area would be significantly decreased within a scarily short space of time. Of course, humans outnumbered demons at least ten to one, even if you included the artificial demons that the other demons had been creating, so it was not as if this method would be effective in destroying humanity completely. It did not need to be, it was enough just to significantly decrease the number of humans in the world, and make sure that those remaining were no longer strong enough or powerful enough to fight the demons. It was all a clever game of planning and strategy, and Kitty would not have even a chance to survive unless she could think and act in much the same way.

And there was the flaming stake now, flashing for a moment across the sky, before landing somewhere behind a rusty old caravan. She nodded to her companions, and they all ran inside the huge tent. As Callisto had said, there was a wall of solid steel just inside; a near perfect defence against those that they wanted to keep out; near perfect, that is, unless there was a mutant with phasing power, such as Kitty herself, in the immediate vicinity. She nodded to her companions, and gently took the hands of Amanda and the Nightcrawler. "Take a big breath now," she whispered, "you won't be able to breathe until we are through that thing and into the demons' lair." They did so, and stepped inside the steel.

There was the strange sensation that Kitty always experienced whenever she phased through solid objects, which she had often described as like swimming through treacle. Everything seemed to be slowed down and distorted, and it was obvious that both Amanda and the Nightcrawler were finding the whole process quite disorienting. Never mind, they did not have time to worry about that now, Kitty could tell them all about it later, assuming that they all survived, of course. It did not take long until she found what she was looking for, the portal; the gate to the demon dimension. It was vaguely oval in shape, about eight feet high and five feet wide. Red and blue flames danced menacingly surrounding it, but the inside itself was as black as midnight; it was clearly the entrance to another world, and not the sort of place that one would usually want to visit. She nodded to her companions once more, and they entered into this strange and alien gate to the other world.

She was attacked almost before she realised that she could breathe once more, but attacking her was the last thing that the demon was ever able to do. Obviously some form of guard, the creature looked like some form of pig demon; the creature was dressed in what looked like mediaeval armour, complete with helmet. This had not helped him, however, because no sooner had he attacked Kitty, than two irritated demon-slayers and the Nightcrawler had quickly thrust his own weapons into his body, and a moment later he vanished in a puff of smoke. "I wish they were all as considerate as that," muttered Kitty quietly, "to have a suicidal attack, followed by neatly vanishing a moment later."

"Yes, that would be nice," Amanda replied just as quietly, "but I think that the other inhabitants of this place might take more thoughtful planning to destroy." She pointed upwards.

In the dim light of a nearby torch, Kitty looked up at what seemed to be some kind of mechanised industrial machine, which consisted of ropes and pulleys, and many metal buckets that were transporting molten metal from one side of the machine to the other. Now that her eyes had accustomed to the dim light, she could see more of the pig demons further along the chamber, but they did not seem to have noticed them. Well, there was no reason why they should have, the metal wall clearly made a good defence against invaders to their domain, and so they had only thought to have one guard on duty to defend the portal. We could rush in and try to kill as many of these demons as possible, thought Kitty, but that would not be the best course of action. There were lots of them, perhaps hundreds, and so far, they were still clearly going about their normal activities, largely oblivious to Kitty and her companions. There was time to think, to plan her next move carefully. These demons had been clever and cunning; she had to be the same if she was to defeat their plans. And she was fairly sure that their plans involved the machine above her head in some way.

"Look," whispered the Nightcrawler, as he pointed to where several buckets of molten metal were being poured into a much larger bucket. Kitty turned her attention towards where he was pointing, and frowned. Emerging from some form of metal mould was a demon. It was large, it was blue, and it was a Cyclopes. It looked almost identical to the one she had seen before; what had Austin said it was called? Oh, that's right, a Karikhian demon. So that was the artificial demon that the Morlocks had been talking about, and the creature that had taken control of the Nightcrawler that time, when it had tried to force the Nightcrawler to attack Austin, only to be beheaded by Kitty before it could put its plan into action. According to Austin, the creature could be destroyed by being beheaded, but of course it would be difficult to do this, if it were to take control of one's mind first, and cause all sorts of trouble that way. A pretty good defence and attack strength, Kitty had to admit.

She watched the newly emerged creature for a moment, considering her next course of action carefully. She could attack and behead the creature, but that would doubtlessly cause a lot of commotion and attention from the pig demons, and she wanted to avoid any undue attention if at all possible. No, what she really wanted to do was to stop those things from being created, to stop it at source, just as the Morlocks had suggested. Well, that meant figuring out the machinations that were going on above her, the complex system of pulleys and metal chains that were transporting the molten metal that was being used to create the creatures. Of course, she did not need to know the details of how it all worked; she just had to know how to stop it from working, preferably in a manner that would not attract the attention of any of the pig demons until it was too late. That meant that she had to find the weakest link in the entire process, for she had long ago learnt that it did not matter how tough or resilient a machine was, it could only ever be as strong, ultimately, as its weakest link. And everything had a weakness; however well hidden that weakness might happen to be. So she just had to figure out the weakest link in this chain and take advantage of that, in order to stop any more of those Karikhian demons from being created in this lair.

Kitty grinned when she saw that one of the smaller links in the chain, not far above her head, was slightly rusted, and so looked less resilient than many of the other links. She pointed it out to Amanda, who nodded, grabbed the other side of the link, across from Kitty, and the two slayers pulled at it, with all of their slayer strength. It might be, quite literally, the weakest link in the chain, but that did not mean that it would be easy to break, in fact it took the combined efforts of both slayers, both using almost all of their superhuman strength, to make it bend, and finally break, with a loud snap. Kitty's grin quickly turned to a frown, when it was clear that that sound had caught the attention of the nearest pig demons, some of whom were now advancing towards them, while others were alerting their companions to the presence of the intruders. Justin the rat squeaked once in fear, before burrowing himself further down inside Amanda's pocket. But Kitty's attention was suddenly drawn to the machinery up above her head, which had begun drawing to a halt. Okay, thought Kitty, looking straight ahead once more and grabbing a sword in both hands, and wearing a determined expression on her face; so we have stopped any more of those Karikhian demons from being created; now we just have to worry about stopping hundreds of pig demons from turning us into little tiny pieces of ex-slayers on this floor. Seems straightforward enough, if not exactly easy.

However, there was a groaning noise above her head just then, and the sound of a rope being pulled through metal. She looked up once more, and saw that, far above her head, there was what she supposed had to be the emergency back-up of the machine, a rope which had begun to transport the bucket of molten metal to the place where the next Karikhian demon was beginning to be made. Kitty cursed under her breath; she might have known that this would not be as straightforward as simply a matter of breaking a single link in the machine; of course these demons had some sort of back-up plan in place. Whatever else they were or were not; it was becoming increasingly obvious to Kitty that they certainly were not stupid.

"I'll climb up there and bite through that rope," the Nightcrawler suggested.

"Good idea," Kitty replied, "I think we're going to have enough to do to stop a hundred of those demons turning us into demon food."

"Take Justin with you," said Amanda, "he also has very sharp teeth, and the sooner we can stop that thing, the better for everyone."

"And hurry," Kitty added, "as soon as you've done that, come back down here, and I'll phase all of us to safety."

The Nightcrawler nodded, picked up Justin from Amanda's hand, and, despite their mutual dislike for each other, the two of them were quickly scampering up the machinery towards the back-up rope far above their heads.

Kitty turned her attention back to Amanda, who was also drawing her sword, and gave her a grim grin. "Well, you were asked to come here to train under my guidance, and I get the feeling that this is going to be one tough training exercise. Are you ready for the test?"

Amanda grinned, and nodded, looking determined, "I am," she assured Kitty, "because I was trained by the best."


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 7 – Battle in the Demon Lair_

Kitty and Amanda fought back to back, both carrying a sword in each hand. The pig demons just kept on coming at them, and they continued to fight and kill them. At least they turned into ash when they were killed; that was a small mercy. Kitty really did not want to have to deal with a huge pile of dead demons getting in her way. She hacked and slashed at the oncoming demons some more, but there still seemed to be plenty more, just waiting for a chance to attack her and her companion. They don't realise that we are slayers, Kitty thought. Well, why should they? It was not as if they had announced that they were slayers, after all. That meant that the pig demons did not realise that she and Amanda possessed slayer strength and endurance. Well, that was good, she thought, as another pig demon became dust in front of her eyes; the less they know about our abilities, the better.

"Why are they attacking all at once?" Amanda asked, as she beheaded a demon by her side, a demon that became nothing more than dust a moment later. "They're not supposed to do that, are they? They're supposed to line up in rows, come at us one at a time in a nice orderly fashion, and not all attack at the same time like this. It's just not done this way."

Kitty gave a little laugh, "It's funny, it wasn't that long ago that I was saying the exact same thing to Austin," she said. "Apparently, demons don't feel that they have to obey the rules."

She glanced up quickly at where the Nightcrawler was busy biting through the ropes. Justin had to be up there somewhere, but he was hidden in the shadows. "Can you hurry up, please?" she called up towards them, "We're kind of busy fighting for our lives down here!"

There was a pause, followed by the sound of someone spitting bits of rope out of his mouth. "Sorry," came the muffled reply, "this rope's covered with something tough. It will take longer than I first thought it would to gnaw through it. But we're working as fast as we can," he added.

"Just do your best," said Amanda, in between piercing another pig demon with her sword, "we will keep going as long as it takes."

Kitty shot her a slightly annoyed look. So they had slayer strength and endurance, which would certainly help them. But more and more pig demons seemed to be coming at them, and even slayer endurance wasn't infinite. She stared at Amanda a moment, in between thrusting her sword into the guts of two more pig demons. There was no denying that Amanda's technique was perfect, her aim straight and true. Yet, at the same time, she was not holding anything back, but giving it her all. Austin had always said that you needed to hold something back, something with which to fight the monsters lurking in the shadows, those that were waiting for the one moment when you were at your weakest, when you needed to catch your breath, to deal with your wounds. That was when you needed those reserves, and that was when the monsters that attacked you would realise – too late - that you were an experienced slayer, one who knew that those reserves could well save her life. Yet Amanda was not an experienced slayer. She was fighting in a manner that was superior in almost every way to Kitty's own technique, but she was giving her all to the moment. Which meant that, the minute that her guard was down, she would be vulnerable, and most at risk. And Kitty feared that she would not be able to help her, for she was still too busy fighting more and more of these pig demons. They just seemed to keep on coming, their numbers never seeming to reduce, no matter how many of them they killed.

"How…how are you feeling…?" Amanda asked, slightly breathlessly, as she killed yet another demon.

"I don't think I will need to visit the gym this week," said Kitty with a smile. Keep it light, make jokes, and don't let on that you feel worried about her, "this is enough of a workout to last me for quite a while."

"Right," Amanda replied, thrusting her sword into the belly of another pig demon, "quite a workout indeed."

Kitty glanced over at her again. She's starting to flag, she realised. It is because she's not holding anything back, not keeping a special place for her reserves of strength and stamina. And, if truth were to be told, Kitty herself was beginning to feel the same way, starting to draw on her own reserves of energy. She was beginning to wonder just how much longer they could keep this up for. The pig demons might be relatively weak and easy to kill individually, but they just kept on coming; kill one, and another one was in its place. They were like mosquitos. You could kill one with a little bit of effort, but when there were dozens or hundreds remaining, stinging with surprising effectiveness for creatures so small and apparently weak, it made little difference in the long run. Killing the pig demons was beginning to feel like an equally futile effort.

Kitty glanced up at the figure of the Nightcrawler hidden within the shadows, "The sooner you're finished up there, the better for everyone," she called up to him.

There was a moment's pause, and then a muffled voice said, "We're getting there, it should not be too much longer now."

"Good," Kitty replied, then turned her attention back to the pig demons.

And regretted doing so right away.

Seven pig demons seemed to have merged together, forming another type of demon, which seemed to flicker and grow as she watched it in puzzlement. Then she found herself staring up at what looked like a giant rat type demon; indeed, it looked like the Rat King that had scared her so much, when she had read that children's book, so long ago. And suddenly the same feeling of terror was upon her that she had experienced then, when she had been maybe eight years old. She stared at the creature's glowing red eyes, its sharp teeth and its matted fur. Kitty was not afraid of much; indeed, after you had killed as many demons as she had, you just didn't tend to have enough energy left over_ to_ be afraid of very much at all. Yet the Rat King demon in front of her seemed to be the very essence of everything that she had ever been afraid of in her life. Suddenly she felt as weak and as helpless as she had done when she had been a small child; unable to control her own destiny, largely at the mercy of those that were bigger, stronger and in every way more powerful than she was.

Kitty glared up at the creature, trying to control her own feelings of terror. This is ridiculous! I am a slayer, and a mutant. I am tough and powerful, and capable of dealing with just about any demon or any other sort of nasty creature that can make life difficult for me, or those around me. I do not panic or act like some irritating damsel in distress every time something unusual and frightening happens, I grab a weapon and use it against the monster…but no matter how much she kept telling herself this, she could not quite bring herself to believe it, as the Rat King monster advanced towards her. She lifted her sword anyway, but frustratingly, unbelievably, she found herself dropping it to the ground as the Rat King monster reached down towards her, its filthy claws grabbing at her hand.

"But…that does not look anything like a Cat monster…" she heard Amanda's voice, but it sounded far away. Cat monster…wait, would not that be one of Justin the rat's greatest fears? Perhaps that was what the demons were aiming for; weakening their opponents by presenting them with their greatest fears. Perhaps that was their power, their special kind of magic, perhaps they possessed the same type of glamour as the Luthi did, only this time, rather than a feeling of inferiority, they inflicted a feeling of absolute terror.

Kitty narrowed her eyes, and stared intently at the Rat King monster. Was it her imagination, or did it seem slightly fuzzy – slightly unreal – just around the edges? If she looked at it really intently, did it not just seem like several of those weak pig demons, disguised and close together? Yes, that was it, just another example of glamour, of illusions used to weaken slayers' will and fighting ability. She smiled, lifted her sword off of the ground, and, gripping it tightly in her hand, glared up at her adversary. Glamour might be a very effective and efficient method employed by her enemies, but it was not perfect; the moment that you realised that glamour was being used, it began to lose all of its power. She could see through the Rat King monster now, could see that it was indeed nothing more than the pig demons, congregated together in a tight group. She raised her sword high above her head, and brought it down upon the nearest pig demon, and stared in satisfaction as the demon, a moment later, was nothing more than dust.

"It's not real," she yelled towards Amanda, who, she noticed, was on her knees and quivering in fear a few feet away from her. "They're using their illusionary glamour to weaken us and make us doubt our abilities. It's just like the Luthi, only much more dangerous right here. Look closely at it, and you'll see that it's not real."

Amanda shot her a quick glance, and then stared away from her for a moment, obviously seeing an illusionary terror that Kitty herself could not see. After a moment of staring at this unknown terror, Amanda smiled in a determined manner, got to her feet once more, and began to hack and slash at the pig demons with what seemed to be a renewed sense of vigour and determination. Kitty also grinned; she feels it too, she realised, a sense of indignation at being fooled, at being lied to, at being presented with her own secret fears. And she, just like me, is fighting back with renewed energy, channelling that feeling of indignation into her fighting ability. I just hope that we can keep this up long enough for the Nightcrawler and Justin to finish gnawing through that rope.

She need not have worried. A minute or two later, the Nightcrawler suddenly appeared before her, in a cloud unpleasant smelling purple smoke. Well, that was strange, but she did not really have time to worry about that right now. She was pleased to see that Justin was in his hand, tiny pieces of rope still stuck to his teeth. "Uh…I think we should get out of here…" the Nightcrawler said, and pointed upwards.

The machinery above their heads was grinding to a halt, and as it did so, hundreds of buckets of molten metal were beginning to tip their contents towards the floor. Kitty quickly grabbed Amanda's and the Nightcrawler's hands, and phased them through the rapidly rising sea of molten liquid. Holding her breath, she ran towards the entrance of this demon dimension, noticing in an almost absent minded manner that a number of demons were being destroyed within the rising tide of molten metal. Then Kitty and her companions were running through the wall of steel and finally they emerged once more inside the Big Top of the circus tent, back in their own world again. It was a relief to be able to breathe once more, and Kitty took a moment to catch her breath. She turned around a moment later, and looked at Amanda and the Nightcrawler, the latter of whom was still holding Justin the rat in his hand. They were dirty, bruised, and looked more tired than she had ever seen them before, but they did not appear to be seriously injured. She grinned at her companions, realising suddenly that she also felt a lot more tired than she had felt for a very long time. "Is everyone okay?" she asked, in between getting her breath back.

Amanda gave her a tired smile. "I don't think I'll need to go to the gym this week," she said, "I think that's enough of a workout to last me a month or more."

Kitty smiled back at her. Well, if she's using my own words to gently tease me, she can't be too badly injured, thank goodness. "Right now, I think I could probably sleep for a month, never mind not exercising for a month," she said.

"Did…did we win…?" Amanda asked cautiously.

Kitty looked from Amanda to the Nightcrawler, and smiled at their tired yet hopeful faces. The molten liquid would have managed to plug up the entrance to the lair, and with it the demons' plan to bring about the apocalypse, at least for the moment, at least until the survivors could regroup and amend their plans. Kitty and her companions had almost certainly saved thousands of innocent lives. And yet…yet…we never really win, the battle just keeps on going. The most we can hope for is to tip the scales in our favour, and hope that they will remain so for at least a little while, until the demons tip them back in favour of their own side. She could not bring herself to say this, however, and certainly did not wish to dash her companions' hopes too soon. "This time, this battle," she said, "we've stopped their machines from making any more of those mind controlled Karikhian demons, and it will take a while before they can fix them again. They know that we can use this entrance into their lair now, so we have an advantage over them that we did not have before. Their forces have been depleted, so it would be madness for them to attack now, with such a limited force, and even if they do, they know that we are strong enough to defend ourselves. Well done, you've helped to stop an apocalypse, although I would not brag about that too loudly if I were you, people might start to think you are insane." She smiled at her companions once more, and gave a little nod. "Yes, for the moment at least, you could say that we've won."


	9. Chapter 9

_Epilogue – Endings and New Beginnings_

**Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and/or added me to their favourite list/added me to their author alerts. This is it, the final chapter of ****_Kitty's Demon_****. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As always, all reviews are welcome. Now on with the Epilogue…**

Kitty put down the phone and walked out of her kitchen and into the living room. She smiled as she watched her companions for a minute or two. Amanda and the Nightcrawler were lounging on the couch, staring at some ancient cartoon on the television, while munching on a number of chocolate and salted snacks. Justin the rat was on Amanda's lap, being fed a whole bowl of pasta, and seemed slightly fatter than he had only yesterday, which was perhaps not surprising considering how much he had just eaten. It was strange – one day you're fighting for your life, stopping an apocalypse, the next day you're doing some normal activity, just getting on with your life, as though nothing untoward had happened at all. There was something almost…comforting about that.

"I don't get it," said the Nightcrawler thoughtfully, "that canine can afford to buy all of those fancy tools and weapons and things, but he still keeps chasing and trying to catch that giant bird. Why doesn't he just order his meal from his suppliers, and save himself all of the hassle?"

Amanda laughed, "I asked the same question myself when I was around nine years old. My older cousin told me it's all to do with the joy of the chase, the pursuit, the attempting to attain the unobtainable, the challenge. It's all to do with human nature, the desire to go out and conquer the mountain, just because it's there."

"And what did you say when he said all of that?" the Nightcrawler asked, looking rather sceptical.

"I said that that was a very good reason why you should never discuss cartoons with philosophy majors."

"Ah," he replied. He watched the cartoon in silence for a few minutes. "I really don't see what's so great about watching cartoon animals get hurt," he said after a while.

Amanda shrugged, "It's slapstick, all to do with timing. Besides, there's supposed to be something vaguely satisfying about watching someone being hoisted upon their own petard."

The Nightcrawler stared sceptically at the screen for a moment, "You mean as in schadenfreude?" he asked.

"Who's that?" asked Amanda.

"Sorry to interrupt this deep and meaningful conversation that you are having," said Kitty, grinning and sitting down between Amanda and the Nightcrawler, "but that was Mr McCoy on the phone just now."

"How is he?" asked the Nightcrawler.

"Blue and fuzzy, just like you," she replied, giving the Nightcrawler a little hug, "it seems that whatever it was that was done to him is permanent. Still, he seems to be in remarkably good health, considering what he has been through recently. The Morlocks reckon that he should be able to go back to work on Monday."

"Won't that cause some comments?" asked Amanda, "I mean, a blue and fuzzy teacher is bound to cause the students to take notice. Even the most unobservant ones," she added.

"I did say that, but he said that he can't hide forever, and shouldn't have to. It's better that he gets back in the classroom now, and has an open discussion with his students about mutants, including enhanced mutants, so that they know that they having nothing to hate or to fear from them."

"I guess that makes sense," Amanda said cautiously.

Kitty nodded, "I can see why he feels the way he does, but it can't be easy going out in public while blue and furry." She turned her attention to the Nightcrawler, "That's where you come in," she said.

"Me?" he asked, suddenly looking nervous, "What does he want from me?"

Kitty shrugged, "He reckons that you are also an enhanced mutant, just as the Morlocks said. He wants to take some blood samples, just to be sure that you are not really a demon."

"But what if I am?" he asked, suddenly looking terrified, "what will he do to me then?"

"We won't let him do anything to you," Amanda assured him, "if we can stop an apocalypse and a bunch of demons, I'm sure we can stop a single mutant from doing anything unpleasant to any one of our friends."

"Right," said Kitty, "in any case, you've helped to stop an apocalypse, so we have a great reason to prevent him from hurting you. But I don't think he will, and I don't think that you're a demon anyway. And even if you are, you are my demon, and I won't let anyone hurt that which is mine."

They watched the television for a moment in silence. The coyote was caught in one of his own traps. Amanda then turned to Kitty, and asked, "What about the Morlocks?"

"Mr McCoy has said that they are welcome to join his class, that he can investigate finding reasonable accommodation for them above ground, and give them a chance to reintegrate into society once more." Kitty shrugged. "I'm not sure that many will take him up on the offer, though. They've created something pretty amazing underground, and have each other as a sort of family to turn to. Why give that up when they already feel that the world above has rejected them? Still it's important that they have the choice." Kitty turned her attention back to the Nightcrawler once more, "Which brings me back to you again," she said, "Mr McCoy said that you are welcome to join his class if you want to, and it will even help him to explain about enhanced mutants if he has one in his classroom, again, so he can demonstrate why people don't need to hate or fear us."

"I'm not sure that I want to be in a classroom full of people, all of them staring at me, wondering what I am. I've had enough of being a freak show to last my entire life," the Nightcrawler admitted.

Kitty nodded, "I told him that you might feel that way. He's coming round later to have a chat with us, just so that we can look at the options available to us." She pointed at his collar on the floor, which Justin had begun industriously chewing, "He reckons that there might be a way to adapt that technology so that it hides your true appearance, or to stop a mutant's power from being activated. I'm not too sure of the details myself, but he seems to think that it would be quite straightforward to do." She sighed, "Of course, there's always the option of going back to Germany. With modern technology, it might be possible to locate your old circus back in Bavaria, and it might be possible for you to re-join them. Or you could decide to do something completely different," she added.

"As long as I don't have to go back to the circus over here," the Nightcrawler said, shuddering, "what's going to happen to that?"

Kitty grinned, "It seems that the Morlocks had a lot of fun while we were busy stopping the apocalypse. I don't think you need to worry about them, ever again."

"That's good," said Amanda, "but they still don't exactly trust slayers, and I can't exactly blame them. Plus, there's still a load of those Karikhian demons around; what's to stop those things from taking over someone's mind and continuing to cause all of the animosity between slayers and Morlocks, or to make that dislike of each other get even worse?"

"That's still a problem," Kitty admitted, "still, at least we know what to look out for now, and they won't be able to make any more of those Karikhian demons for quite some time, I expect. We will just have to work on eliminating the ones that are here already. Besides, if Mr McCoy makes mutants more out in the open, more accepted, then people will be more likely to listen to a mutant when he says that his mind was being taken over by someone wishing to do him harm."

"But the demons are bound to figure out a way to adapt," said Amanda thoughtfully, "it's just like my computer game. You figure out a way to defeat the enemy, then they quickly figure out what you're doing once you've used a certain strategy a few times. Then they try something different. It's a race to keep ahead, always adapting and changing, knowing that your enemies are doing the same thing."

Kitty nodded, "Like evolution, like the Red Queen in _Alice in Wonderland_, or is it _Through the Looking_ _Glass_," she shrugged, "I always get those two confused. Both sides constantly changing, constantly adapting and improving, never able to stop. But we're winning at the moment, which means that it will take at least a little time for the demons to catch up."

"What about the Luthi?" asked the Nightcrawler.

Kitty shrugged again. "I don't think that they will be a problem in the near future. They always have a knack of helping the side that is most beneficial to their own needs, and right now, that's our side."

"Let's just make sure that it stays that way," added Amanda.

Kitty nodded, and then looked seriously at her companions. "It never stops," she said quietly, "it cannot ever stop. But I don't think that they can ever throw anything at us that we won't be able to deal with. That is, if you still want to be a part of this, after all that you've seen and done."

Amanda took her hand in her own, "Of course," she said, "we're with you, now, and for as long as you need us, as long as you want us."

The Nightcrawler nodded. "Was there ever any doubt?" he asked playfully, "As you said before, I'm your demon, I go where you go, fight where you fight, and nothing can change that."

Kitty smiled at them, and took the Nightcrawler's hand in her other hand. "Then, in a way, we have already won," she said.


End file.
